thomas



(No Model.) s .sheds-sheet 1.

T. THQ'MAS. MACHINE. PORLIFTING 0R HOISTLNG; No. 293,114; Patented Feb. V5, 1884.

gtmm., l gnwntor,

N. PETERS, Piwlulhngnphef. washington, D. C.

(No Modlel.) 3 Shets--Sheeb24 T. THOMAS.

` MACHINE yFR LIFTING OR HOISTlNG.

Patented Peb. 5,1884.

(No Model.) S'Sheets-Sheet 3;

DTHGMAS. l MACHINE PORLIPTING 0R HOISTING. i 1 N0. 293,114. `PaLte1L1tef1 Feb.. 5, 1884.

,firma gaat ters Patent in Great Britain April 28, 1883,) of which t ATENT Frick. l f

rHOMAs THOMAS, or cannirr, COUNTY or e-LAMORGAN, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR LIFTING on HolsTlNc..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,114, dated February 5, 1884.

Application filed November 39, 1883.

.To @ZZ whom t 71mg/ concer/z.: Be it known that I, Trroims THOMAS., a subj ect of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Cardiff, in the county of Glamorgan, England, manufacturer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Lifting vor Hoisting, (for which l have received Let- No. 2,162, dated he following is a specification.

My invention relates to those parts of machinery for lifting or hoisting by which `the arresting, starting, and reversing of the motion of the machinery are effected; and my said invention consists of the construction and con1` bination hereinafter described of the parts of an adjustable belt-shifter for shifting the driving-belts from the fast to the loose pulleys of the driving mechanism, or the reverse; and, also, ofthe construction and combination hereinatter described of the parts for operating the belt-shifter, and, also, of automatic stopping-gear for arresting the motion of the machinery at the proper times.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in side elevation, Fig. 2 in plan, and Fig. 3 in end elevation, machinery for lift-ing or hoisting containing myimprovements. Fig. 4 represents a portion of Fig. 2, drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 6 represents the belt-shifting bar and parts connected with it, drawn `to the same scale as Figs. 4t and 5; and Fig. i represents one of the belt-shifting forks and one of the lining-brackets of the belt`shifting bar.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings. i

The bclt-shift`ing mechanism and the alitomatic gear arel shown in connection with a hoisting-machine where two driving-belts, one being crossed, as usual, are used, one belt bcing used for raising and the otherbelt for lowering the load, the said two driving-belts being employed in connection with two loose and one fast pulley.

I will first describe the adjustable driving belt shifter. and parts connected with it.

c is the belt-shifting bar carrying `the beltshifting fork's ff, .the said bar c being situated Y parallel to the pulley-shaft p, carrying the fast portion of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 aV pulley p2 and theloose pulleys pgp.

(No model.) Patented in England April 23,1883, No. 2,162.

The said belt-shifting barc has a .longitudinal to-and fro motion given to it in the manner hereinafter explained, The said bar c is square through the greater part of its length 5 but the end d is cylindrical, anda quick-threaded screw is cut upon it.` Upon the square part of the bar c the belt-shittingforks ff are fitted, being secured thereon by set-screws, as

represented in Fig. `The belt-shifting bar f e is supported in adj ustable brackets or bearings I) b', one at each side of the` machine. The brackets b b work in semicircular slotted seats at c a?, made in the frame-plates 7tr, supportingthe pulley-shaft p. The said semicircular slotted seats a a are concentric with the pulleyshaft p, as seen in Fig. 4, and in the said slotted seats the brackets b b may be adjusted. The slotted seats a a2 consist of asemicircular slot, a, at the sides of which facings c2 c2 are made. bracket tits, and the curved flanges of the bracket work upon the facings a 'at ofthe slot.

' rlhe brackets are secured in the slots a of the slotted seats by means of the screw bolts and nuts at b bl and plates or glands c2 c2, the flanges of the brackets and plates or glands clipping and traveling on the parts a? a2 of the seats.

The construction of the adjustable brackets will be best understood by referring tothe enlarged views, Figs. Il, 5, 6, and 7. lin secur- In the slot @the `:middle of the ing the two brackets b b in their places, they Y are lxed opposite oneanother or inthe same line, so as to secure the belt-shifting bar c in' a horizontal position. By moving Ythe brackets b b in their semicircular seats a a?, the said brackets can be adjusted with great nicety to suit the inclination of the driving-belts carried by the forks of the said bar. l bracket b at one side ofthe machine is plain, and has a square hole made in it, which receives the square end of the belt-shifting bar c, the said bar being by this means vprevented from rotating. The adjustable bracket b at the other side of the machine has a jaw, b4,

attached toit, between the fork of which j awt a pinion, c, is fitted. Thebush of `thispinion c is screwed and works upon the screwed end d of thebeltshifting bar c. By means of .the jaw bt of the bracketb, the pinion e is prevent rlhe adjustable IOI) ed from traveling laterally. Gearing with the pinion eis a spur-wheel, g, which works loosely upon the projecting end of the pulley-shaft p, or on a cylindrical prolongation of the bearing in which the shaft p revolves. By an eX- anlination ofthe drawings it will be seen that the pinion e will always be in gear with the spur-wheel g, in whatever position the adjustable brackets b b may be fixed in the slotted seats a a2.

On the outer face of the spur-wheel g is a shea-ve, h. ,A rope for operating ,by hand the belt shifting mechanism is attached to'l the sheave h, which rope is usually carried through all the floors of the building, as shown at r', but may be elsewhere conducted as required. By moving the said rope r attached to the sheave 7i backward or forward, the spur-wheel lg is made to rotate, and with it the pinion c on the-screwed end cl of the belt-shifting bar c, and the said pinion7 acting as a screw-box, and hav-ing only a rotary motion, causes a longitudinal motion in one or other direction to be given to the belt-shifting bar c. By the traversing motion of the belt-shifting bar c in one direction, its forks ff are made to transfer one of the driving-belts from the fast pulley p2 to one 'of the loose pulleys p, so as to arrest the motion of the machine, the further motion of the bar c in the same direction starting and reversing the motion of the machine by bringing the other or cross belt from the loose pulley, on which it rested, onto the fast pulley p2. The same action takes place when the bar c is moved in the other direction. Vhen it is required to entirely stop the machine, the rope on the sheave 7i is so pulled as to bring the forks f f into the position represented in the drawings, and thereby place both the driving belts vonto the loose pulleys 2931 The gearing is generally `proportioned so that 'from three to four feet pull of the rope is necessary to produce a travel of the bar c sufficient to shift one belt off the fixed pulley and theother belt onto the iiXed pulley, for reversing the motion of the hoist, the stopping of the hoist being effected by bringing the said rope into an intermediate position. rlhe pinion e, when at rest, acts as a lock-nut upon the bar c, and by preventing its longitudinal motion effectually preserves the driving-belts in the positions to which they have been brought by the actuating-rope attached to the sheave h. Vhen the belt-shifting mechanism is used without the automaticgear hereinafter described, stops are Xed on the belt-shifting bar c, to limit its to-and-fro motion. When pulleys of larger or smaller diameter than those represented are used in hoisting-machines, the slotted seats a a2 of the adjustable brackets b b have the required radius given to them, and the diameters of the pinion e and spur-wheel g are arranged accordingly.

I will now describe the automatic gear, constructed according-to my invention, for working the belt-shifter and arresting the motion of the machinery.

q is the winding-drum, the shaft z of which is prolonged beyond one of its bearings. The prolonged part of the shaft is marked z', and is screwed with a iine screw-thread. On the said screwed end z ofthe drum-shaftz a sheave, y, having a screwed bush, has a traversing or longitudinal motion. The said sheave y works between a fixed collar or nut, and the adjustable nuts w, which latter may be locked in any required position on the screwed part z of the shaft z. Then the traversing drumshaft sheave y reaches either the collar w or the adjustable screw-nuts w, it has a rotary motion communicated to it, which is transmitted by the rope r to the sheave h on the pulley-shaft p. rlhe rope r may be an endless one, 'or a rope may be coiled onthe sheave h, and, after being1 coiled on the sheave y, may be conducted through all the floors of the building, or elsewhere conducted, the rope at r2 passing from the sheave y, replacing that marked r', which was described as being connected to the sheave h in explaining the beltshifting mechanism, and which last named rope on the sheave h was used for reversing and stopping the machinery by hand.

The action of the automatic gear is as follows: When the hoisting machinery is xed for use, the screw-nuts at w are locked in such a position on the screwed end e" of the drumspindle that the sheave y, in traveling from the collar x to the nuts fw, will make as many rotations as the drumshaft does in winding a load from the bottom of the building to the t'op. Supposing the drum-shaft e turns from right to left for raising the load, and that the thread on the screw z is right-handed, the sheave y will be situated at the screw-nuts w IOO when the load is at the bottom of the build- IIO' the said sheave g/ abuts against the collars@ on A the shaft y. The sliding motion of the sheave `y being now arrested, it partakes of the rotary motion of the drum-shaft, its rotary motion being transmitted through the rope r to the vdriving-shaft sheave h, the motion of which is transmitted through the spur-wheel g and pinion c to the belt-shifting bar c, and the driving-belt on the fast pulley p2 is :moved onto one of the loose pulleys p", and the hoist comes to rest. v

For the purpose of rcstarting'thc hoist and reversing its motion, the attendant pulls the rope at Ir2 in such a direction as will give lrotation to the drum-shaft sheave y, and through it to the pulley-shaft sheave y), in the samedirection as that by which the hoist was brought to rest. The motion thus given to the sheave y slightly separates it from the collar x, as well as moves the belt-shifting bar 0,' this further motion of the said bar moving the other belt Y n from one of the loose pulleys onto the fast pulley, thereby starting the hoist in a reverse direction, the other belt remaining on the loose pulley, onto which it was transferred for stopping the hoist. As the drum-shaft a now rotates in an opposite direction to that rst described, the drum-shaft sheave y retires from the collar x and now moves outward upon the screwed end z of the drum-shaft z, and on the load descending to its full extent the sheavey reaches the screw-nuts w, when, its sliding motion being again arrested, it partakes of the rotary motion of the said drum-shaft, which motion being transmitted through the rope r, sheave 7a, and gearing g e to the belt-shifting bar c, a return traversing motion is given to the said bar c, and the hoist is brought to rest, restarted by hand, and the motion reversed, as hereinbefore described. It will thus be understood that so long as the drum-shaft sheave' y is traversing between the collar and the screw-nuts w on the screwed end of the shaft the belt-shifteris inoperative, except byhand; but as soon as the said sheave y reaches either the screw-nuts or the collar rotatory motion is communicated to it, and the belt-shifter is operated upon and the machine brought to rest, the restarting of the machine being effected by hand, as before explained. By adjusting the position of the screw-nuts w on the screwed end of the drum-shaft, the arresting of the motion of the hoist, when the load has reached the desired height or has descended the required distance, can be determined with great nicety.

The belt-shifter 'hereinbefore described and ,illustrated may be used apart from the autois geared by a rope or other gearing to the en4 y gine by which thelioisting-machine is worked.

I have shown at s, Fig. 2, in combination with thehoisting-machine,self-sustaining gear; but asfthe self-sustaining gear constitutes no part of my invention I do not thinkit necessary to describe the same. y

Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my invention of improvements in machinery for lifting or hoisting- 1. The combination of the pulley-shaft, the brackets adjustable in the slotted seats, the belt-shifting bar having its bearings in the said brackets, and the belt-forks connected to the shifting-bar, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the screw-threaded shifting-bar, a supporting-bracket therefor, the pinion working on the threaded portion of the shifting-bar and inclosed in the supporting-bracket, the pulley-shaft, andthe loose pinion and sheave connected with the pulleyshaft, substantially as and for the lpurpose set forth.

3. The combination of the drum-shaft having a portion thereof screw -threaded, the sheave traveling on thethreaded portion thereof, the screw-nut and collar on opposite sides of the said sheave, the pulley-shaft with the sheave and pinion thereon, means for connecting the two sheaves, the screw-threaded beltshifting bar and the belt-forks connected thereto, and the pinion working on the threaded portion of the shifting-bar and meshing with the pinion on the pulley-shaft, substantially as and forV the' purpose set forth.

4. The combination of the drum-shaft havin aportion thereof screw-threaded, the sheave traveling on the threaded portion thereof, and

the screw-nut and collar on opposite sides of the said sheave, substantially as and` for the purpose set forth. i

THOMAS THoMAs. Y [n a] Witnesses:

J. D. WILLLins, E. XV. HARRIS. 

